German soccer giants FC Bayern Munich have become the latest sports team to adopt blockchain technology following the signing of a licensing partnership to produce and distribute digital collectibles of their squad members. Bayern will work with fan engagement specialists Stryking to create a global platform for blockchain-based digital collectibles, starting with the team’s most celebrated talent, including stars like Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Philippe Coutinho, and Lucas Hernández, in the latest example of the growing trend.
New name, new vision, new project! With https://t.co/9ERtc7mBZg we are launching a unique platform for sports fans based on the blockchain technology. As our first license partner for our new collectible cards game, we are proud to announce the german football club #bayernmunich pic.twitter.com/1mEvEfxGe1
— stryking.io (@stryking_io) October 10, 2019
Fans Can Be a Part of the Action
Stryking.io allows fans of sports teams the opportunity to buy official, blockchain-based collectibles such as trading cards, with limited amounts of each card designed to drive up the desirability of top ranked players, increasing and rewarding fan engagement. The Bayern tie in will start with a pre-sale of rare cards with more to be rolled out over the following weeks, with Stryking also adding a fantasy football element to the programme. This allows card holders to compete with others in special challenges, with the objective of increasing the value of their cards which they can sell on the Stryking marketplace.
Bayern Continuing the Trend
FC Bayern follow in the footsteps of other top soccer teams such as Real Madrid and Arsenal in leveraging blockchain technology to increase and monetize fan engagement; Madrid and Arsenal signed a deal with Stryking rivals Fantastec SWAP in April to offer a very similar playable trading card proposition. Fantastec also signed up one of Bayern’s biggest rivals, Borussia Dortmund, to their platform. French champions Paris Saint-German announced last September that a club crypto was being planned, in another example of blockchain’s inexorable rise within the financially lucrative world of professional soccer.
